We are coming to Bonaire for the first time for 2 weeks in Feb. to snorkel. We are confused about the bootie thing. What type of booties should we get and should we get them here or wait until arriving. We chose Bonaire because of the shore access. We are getting mixed advice ranging from rubber soled water shoes with open back fins, to over the ankle heavy soled divers boots with open back fins, to tevas and toss em back to the beach and Oh just tough it out! The last 2 don't seem to be the best options. Can somebody help? I don't want to mortgage the house to pay--but don't want to miss a good viewing spot either.

The shore and entries in bonaire consist of ironstone and broken hard coral, not easy at all to walk on. Toss in the occasional sea urchin and you you will want substantial footwear. Take your fins with you when buying booties to assure a good fit. I use a fairly light weight bootie, while those my wife wears are almost like tennis shoes. If you can comfortably walk on 1 1/2" to 2" sharp rocks in your booties you are probably good to go. Urchin spines will go through most anything.

Susan, Iron shore is like walking over sharp gravel, on the land. The best way to protect yourself is to wear boots that are comfortable with open heel fins. That simple, not rocket science...

Susan, you probably want to skip the "oh tough it out" advice! You certainly will want something with a rubber sole with some tread. Now here may be something you have not thought about --- many years ago before we were divers we were in Bonaire for a week of snorkeling. My husband had already purchased ankle high boots in anticipation of diving. Well ... he had the funniest tan line at the end of a week from snorkeling in high boots! So maybe you want to consider low cut ones! As to where to purchase --- if you have a local dive shop why not stop in there and see what they have. Otherwise I would check with Bruce at Carib Inn when you get to Bonaire as his prices are very good.

You need booties and open back fins - if you want to stay in the water and do a lot of snorkeling and not get your feet cut. That's my opinion and I've always had a good time on Bonaire with this equipment. ;-)

OK, I can't help but chime in here. I have particularly soft feet and managed very well without the booties. I wore sandals down to the shore, and then what Renee taught us was to slide in on your butt, put your fins on, then just push yourself out there and start swimming. I never got hurt, stepped on anything painful and only had to walk slowly over the shore rubble to survive. Yes, it is less painful to never be barefoot but I find that the booties under the fins was very uncomfortable. Either way, have fun and be careful getting in and you should be fine.

Chris
I would NEVER judge by Renee. Her feet are as tough as any booty. She strolls along like she's on grass no matter what the surface is like :-).
Susan, go with the booty route you'll be glad you did!
Mick

I've enjoyed snorkeling on Bonaire for over 30 years with sandals (lately, Tevas) worn to ankle deep water and then tossed ashore after I put on full foot fins, which are the old fashioned inexpensive black rubber variety with the relatively short fin. I haven't been injured yet. I like these short flexible fins, and if I need to swim a long distance rapidly, I generally can exceed the pace of others who have the stiffer larger open heel fin (and frequently have to use the inefficient bicycling kick to avoid cramp and knee problems. About once a year or so I post this to balance the oft posted "you must have booties," so people know there are options. If at some point in life I get unsteady on my feet, perhaps I'll switch to booties. Go with your own preferences.

Mickey
Thanks for your input. Yes, Renee's feet are tough as booties but as I mentioned, mine are not and I did just fine without booties. I don't feel compelled to instruct Susan to purchase booties or not, just to share my experiences. Either way, it is very possible and not painful to make shore entries without them and use full foot fins, in my opinion.

speaking of Renee's feet - She was leading us to a snorkel trip that entailed walking out into Lac Bay - She stopped for a moment and pulled up her foot and a crab ( as i remember it) was clamped around it. She laughed and pulled it off and we kept on walking. It was really the most amazing thing I've ever seen!

I appreciate all of the input! Thanks so much. It appears I was right about the different opinions, but coming from Bonaire persons it makes more sense. So far, I am thinking to head to the dive shop--walk up and down my driveway in barefeet(little icy at present, but gotta do what I gotta do!) I appreciate the description of the shore, and also the comment that nothing will stop an urchin spine- as I thought I was to look for a bootie that would. I have already had the urchin experience and would not by choice do it again. I am not going to bulk up with work boots however. I am gathering from you all that one can walk between the critters. How far out do you need to go before floating away from all of this? We ar getting excited to get there!

Typically, you only need to go out a very short distance before there is enough clearance to push off and start swimming. You can see the urchins pretty clearly from above (amazing crystal clear water) so you can maneuver around them with little difficulty. We sit down in about a foot of water, take off the sandals and throw them ashore, put on the fins and off we go. Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy can give you excellent descriptions of the entrances but if you can arrange to go out with Renee your first time, she can show you the ropes and recommend excellent sites for you to go on your own.

Some links for you:
http://www.infobonaire.com/bsdme/order.html

http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/index.htm

http://www.infobonaire.com/reneesnorkeltrips/index.html

I was there snorkeling in December. I brought both a borrowed older pair of hard soled diving boots and a pair of beach shoes...rubber sole, but easier to put on than the booties. I also brought the open fins, but found them to be much too heavy for surfact snorkeling. So, my recommendation is to bring either of the shoes (I ended up using the beach shoes 90% of the time because they were easier to put back on to walk out) and then used closed fins. Just get to the entry site and either put the fins on right there or swim out and put them on in the water (of course not where there is coral). And then tuck the shoes in the back of your skin. I have pretty tender feet so there was no other way. Have fun! We had the time of our lives there.